HAITI-MSF says Haiti sinks deeper into a crisis as health facilities close

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The non-government organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said Friday that as the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, sinks deeper into a crisis marked by violent clashes between armed groups and police forces, there has been an increase in the number of civilian casualties arriving at its facilities.

MSF, also known as Doctors without Borders, said that while nearly two in five Haitians are in urgent need of medical care due to widespread insecurity and violence, 60 to 80 per cent of Port-au-Prince’s health facilities are closed or non-functional for the same reasons.

It said that between January and June 2025, MSF teams assisted 2,600 victims and survivors of sexual violence, admitted 13,300 patients to emergency rooms, and treated 2,267 victims of violence.

Among these, 26 per cent were minors, compared to 11 per cent in 2024, with MSF stating that most minors were under the age of 15, and one third were girls. Thirty per cent of all minors admitted for violence-related injuries suffered gunshot wounds.

“These figures reflect the alarming deterioration of the situation in Haiti, where civilians, including women and children, are increasingly exposed to danger every day,” says Mumuza Muhindo Musubaho, MSF head of mission in Haiti, adding, “civilians must be spared by the parties to this conflict”.

MSF said that on September 20, at least 17 wounded people were treated at the MSF hospital in Drouillard following a drone attack carried out the same day in the Cité Soleil neighbourhood.

Among these patients were two men who were already dead on arrival, and another man who died while being transferred, 10 women – one of whom died en route to MSF’s trauma hospital in Tabarre – and three children who tragically did not survive their injuries. Two more women injured in this attack died at the nearby Isaïe Jeanty maternity hospital, where MSF is also working.

“This violence is occurring in the context of a territorial conflict, with communities directly on the frontlines, trapped between the threat of explosive drones and the brutal violence of armed groups that loot and burn homes, destroy neighbourhoods, terrorise communities, and increasingly use sexual violence as a weapon of control, punishment, and extortion,” MSF said.

It said on average, about 18 per cent of patients followed through MSF’s general healthcare project in neighbourhoods controlled by armed groups report that they avoid using public transportation to reach medical facilities outside these areas, fearing they might be targeted.

MSF said that the restricted movement of residents, combined with the widespread closure of hospitals since 2024 due to armed attacks, looting, the exodus of medical staff, and difficulties in supplying medicines, has drastically reduced and centralised the availability of healthcare, leaving a large share of people without access to vital services.

It said that this situation also places extreme pressure on the facilities that remain operational, notably MSF’s trauma hospital in Tabarre, which has increased its bed capacity by 50 per cent, with 26 per cent of trauma cases linked to violence.

Only one major public hospital remains operational in the capital, Hôpital universitaire de la Paix, and it is regularly overwhelmed.

“This devastating context fuels a profound sense of abandonment among Haitians. And, it must be said, the severe decline in healthcare availability – a crisis within the crisis – also leaves the few remaining humanitarian and medical actors with the impression of being overwhelmed by ever-growing needs,” Musubaho said.

MSF said it remains fully committed to supporting the people of Haiti and is working closely with the Ministry of Public Health and Population, adding “civilians, healthcare workers, and medical facilities must be protected”.